The newly launched Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express train suffered minor damages after hitting a herd of buffaloes in Gujarat on Thursday, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off the Gandhinagar-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express semi-high speed train.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked the Congress to tell the nation who prevented India's military response after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks linked to Pakistan, and accused the party of weakening the fight against terrorism when in power.
The train connects Mysuru and Chennai via Bengaluru.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Gujarat has registered a case against the owners of buffaloes that were hit by the Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat express, in which the front portion of the train was damaged, officials said on Friday.
Noting that the new trains will connect the culture of Telangana and AP, Modi said Vande Bharat symbolises new India's resolution and capabilities.
Based on closed circuit television camera footage, the Visakhapatnam police nabbed the three youth from the area.
The glass door of coach number C13 of 22303 Vande Bharat Express was damaged in the incident.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor were also present with the PM as he interacted with the students inside the train.
At an event at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in south Mumbai, Modi first flagged off the the CSMT-Solapur Vande Bharat Express and later another semi high-speed train linking the financial capital to Sainagar Shirdi temple town in Ahmednagar district.
This is the third such incident involving this semi-high speed train so far this month.
'The country that came into existence after Partition lives on hatred for India. It only wants to harm Bharat. However, India's goals are to remove poverty, bring about economic development and become a developed nation'
Sinha said the inauguration of the Kashmir rail service has connected the hearts of the people of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country and will pave the way for the economic prosperity of the region.
During the second phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, 30,000 Indians are being brought back in India from 31 countries on board 149 flights between May 16 and 22.
The incident had happened in Bihar when the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri semi-high-speed train was passing through that state on January 3.
Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have operated 31 inbound flights during the first five days of Vande Bharat mission, bringing 6,037 stranded Indians home amid the coronavirus triggered lockdown, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Tuesday.
Modi accused previous governments of not providing people with facilities that were available to people elsewhere in the world even in the 20th century and in Gujarat a few years back.
The collision caused a minor dent to the train's front panel.
On Thursday, 4 buffaloes were killed after being hit by the train.
Several trains under the purview of SER and ECoR were cancelled or diverted on Wednesday, including the premium Rajdhani Express and Vande Bharat Express, owing to the blockade by members of the Kurmi community in Jharkhand and Odisha, officials said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off two specially designed Vande Bharat trains between Katra town and Srinagar city, reducing travel time between the two places by two to three hours and ensuring all-weather surface connectivity with the Kashmir valley.
Experts suggest that a revamp in the surrounding infrastructure should take care of the issues plaguing the VB-2, stressing that the lightweight nature of the trains is what allows for higher speeds, and that needless design additions may hamper the train's efficiency.
The home minister also said that Article 370 was the "biggest roadblock" in the state's development and within 10 years, it will be one of the most developed regions of the country.
'As it happens in any society, when progress happens, hate also comes out.' 'There is always a bit of a risk and possibility of rejection, particularly by an orthodox section of society.'
Experts say Indian Railways must grow its share in the freight market to remain financially sustainable.
Modi will start his visit on June 6 by dedicating to public the Chenab rail bridge, which is a key part of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway link (USBRL) that will provide direct train connectivity to the valley.
Sources said the railways is keen to ensure that a purely domestic entity bags the tender and once it was felt that the Chinese JV was a frontrunner for the project, it was scrapped.
With national security as the top priority, the BCCI, in coordination with local authorities, decided to abandon the match as a precautionary measure.
India needs to be technologically and militarily prepared to defend itself from both Pakistan and China, alerts Ramesh Menon.
On August 15 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort that the Indian Railways would launch 75 Vande Bharat Express trains by August 2023. Later, in her 2022 Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that 400 Vande Bharat trains will be manufactured in the next three years, which are expected to cost between Rs 40,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore. Those upbeat announcements come after a series of cancelled tenders, vigilance actions against officials and interdepartmental rivalry that delayed the addition of these iconic trains developed entirely indigenously by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.
During the first phase of the Vande Bharat mission, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express are scheduled to operate a total 64 flights between May 7 and May 14 to bring 14,800 Indians from 12 countries on a payment basis.
"Not only that, Pakistan is also the enemy of poor's bread and butter. What happened on April 22 in Pahalgam is an example of that. Pakistan attacked 'insaniyat' and Kashmiriyat in Pahalgam.
India's last three major commercial aviation accidents --Patna (2000), Mangaluru (2010), and Kozhikode (2020) -- could offer critical safety lessons for the ongoing investigation.
The semi-high speed Train 18, which has been recently rechristened Vande Bharat Express, can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph and has travel classes like Shatabdi trains but with better facilities. It aims to provide a totally new travel experience to passengers.
Though bids for 43 Train 18 sets were invited first, orders for only three were given, including one for Spanish major CAF and Medha Group that supplied for the first Vande Bharat train.
After a London-bound Air India aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, the spotlight is back on India's history with aviation disasters.
The train has a lot to offer to its passengers: Silent run, fully-sealed gangway connecting two coaches, GPS-based passenger information system, modular bio-vacuum and disabled-friendly toilets, intelligent air conditioning that adjusts cooling according to the climate and closed-circuit television for safety.
To accommodate the huge number of devotees, a high-tech kitchen has been established at Baba Satyapal Maharaj's pandal, ensuring seamless food preparation and distribution.
"We're deeply grateful for the swift coordination and support from the BCCI, local authorities, and the police who made this possible," the RCB statement added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to flag off the train soon, which will ply between Delhi and his Lok Sabha constituency.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances